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Manipur may also get a woman deputy chief minister. Nemcha Kipgen, a senior Kuki leader and former minister, is among the leading contenders for the post.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday chose Yumnam Khemchand Singh as its legislature party leader in Manipur. He is set to be sworn in as the next chief minister of the state.
Sources said Manipur may also get a woman deputy chief minister. Nemcha Kipgen, a senior Kuki leader and former minister, is among the leading contenders for the post, news agency PTI reported.
The leadership decision was finalised after a meeting of BJP MLAs from Manipur held in Delhi, just days before President’s rule in the state is due to end. NDA partners from Manipur also met later on Tuesday following the BJP legislators’ meeting.
Who is Yumnam Khemchand Singh?
Yumnam Khemchand Singh had drawn attention on December 8 last year when he became the first Meitei MLA to visit relief camps sheltering internally displaced persons from the Kuki community in Ukhrul’s Litan and Chassad areas of Kamjong district. During the visit, he interacted with the displaced families and heard their concerns.
Singh earlier served as the Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly from 2017 to 2022. In 2022, he was inducted into the second N Biren Singh-led government as a cabinet minister, where he was assigned key portfolios including Municipal Administration and Housing Development (MAHUD), Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, and Education.
Tarun Chugh named central observer
On Monday, the BJP parliamentary board appointed Tarun Chugh as the central observer for the election of the Manipur BJP legislature party leader.
“On Sunday, all legislators were asked to come to Delhi for a meeting on Monday. All 37 MLAs are in Delhi for the meeting. The meeting was supposed to be held Monday evening but after the latest announcement about the central observer, we all received information saying that the meeting has been postponed to 3 pm tomorrow,” a state BJP leader told HT.
NDA partners consulted
Former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh had earlier confirmed that all NDA partners in the state were invited to the discussions in the national capital.
“All NDA partners have been invited. Let us hope for a positive response,” Singh told reporters, according to PTI. He added that governance was a continuous process and that efforts were being made to improve the situation in Manipur.
Singh resigned as chief minister last year, after which President’s rule was imposed in Manipur on February 13, 2025.
The decision followed months of intermittent violence linked to ethnic tensions between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities. President’s rule was extended by Parliament in August last year for another six months.
The Union Home Ministry has also extended the tenure of the three-member Commission of Inquiry investigating the ethnic violence in the state, according to an earlier HT report.
The panel, formed on June 4, 2023, has now been given time until May 20, 2026, to submit its findings.
(With inputs from agency)
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